Bed-bottom.



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(Lpplicston led June 23, 1900.)

(No Model.)

WITN [SSLS:

PATENT CFFICE.

ARTHUR H. VIEL, OF

FENTON, MICHIGAN.

BED-BOTTOM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 665,842, dated January 8, 1901.

Application filed .Tune 23, 1900.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR ILVIEL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Fenton, in the county of Genesee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bed-Bottoms, of which the following is a`speciication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that class of bedbottoms formed by means of interlocking wire links. The difficulty yet to be overcome is to contrive a form of link which will impart to the bed-bottom the requisite quality of elasticity without liability of becoming permanently stretched after more or less use in which impairment by alterations in the form of the link liable to be incurred under the constant and severe strains to which they are often subjected. In devising a form of link which will overcome this difficulty the material must first be taken into consideration. It might appear that spring-steel would be best adapted; but this is not so. It is true that a properly-formed link of the best springsteel does not easily lose its shape by being subjected to varying strains in a bed-bottom; but it does not form a comfortable bed t0 sleep on, as its greater elasticity makes it sag too easily, unless heavy wire is used, which makes it difficult to form the links and also makes the bed-bottom too heavy. I have found that hard-drawn steel Wire of the kind now found in the market is best adapted for the purpose, and I have succeeded in devising a form of link which when made of such wire of about No. 12 gage will make a bed-bottom of just the required elasticity and which is simple, cheap, and easy to construct and not liable to become permanently stretched, all as more fully hereinafter described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l is a plan view of a bed-bottoni of my invntion. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a section thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of `Fig. 2, and Fig. 4. is aplan view of the link. y

A is the usual rectangular supportingframe, to the head-bars of which the ends of the wire fabric are secured, preferably, as shown, by zigzag wires T and staples S at both ends.

Serial No. 21,270. (No model.)

B represents the links, hooked together to form the fabric, as shown. Each link is made of a single piece of hard-drawn steel wire bent, as shown, to form it with two arms d of equal length and with a cross-bar b, uniting them at one end. Both the arms and the cross-bar are bent or bowed inwardly, as shown, to form three bowed tension-springs, and the curvature of each is such that no strain to which the link may be subjected in a bed-bottom will be able to permanently alter its form. The maximum curvature which may be allowed will be readily found by experiment with the wire. In thus forming the link in the manner described I bend the corners very abruptly, so as to make the eyes d, formed by these corners, as rigid as possible, and at the ends of the arms I form downwardly-bent hooks @,also closely turned to make them rigid. In constructing the bed-bottom with these links one row is first secured to the head-rail, as shown, and then one transverse row after another is added by engaging the hooks of the links in one row with the eyes of the adjacent row checkerwise-that is, each link is connected to the arms of two adjacent links in the preceding row of'links-whereby each link in the completed fabric is connected at four separate points, which may be likened to the four corners of the link to four die'rent links in the two adjacent rows. The unconnected arms in the alternate rows of links on the outer edge may be either connected in any suitable manner to the side rails of the frame, or, preferably, half-links, as C, are used to connect them with the fabric, as shown. When the fabric is completed, the last row is secured under tension to the footrail by the zigzag wire, and if this is not sufficient the proper tension is obtained in the usual manner by the adjustment of the head or foot rail. In a fabric constructed in this manner it will be seen that all the arms of the links are directly connected to each other end to end into continuously-curved strands extending longitudinally of the bed and directly connected at both ends to the frame of the bed and each arm acts as a tension-spring equal in length to the full length of the link, thus giving a fair degree of elasticity to the fabric within the safe limit beyond which the arms could not be bowed without ultiroo4 A mately Llosing their shape,

'It win readily be understood that the cross-bars being integrally formed with the arms and being much shorter, and therefore much stiffer, than the bars, which brings into play the limited spring tension which these cross-bars intrinsically have on account of their being bent. Afabric formed in this manner has the proper elastic qualities, it is relatively light, as the links give a maximum of elasticity with a minimum of wire, it has no weak poi-nts which are liable to permanently alter the shape of the link, and its construction is simple and cheap and requires no special machinery.

What l claim as my invention is- 1. In a Wire fabric for bed-bottoms, the combination of a series of interlocking transverse rows of three-sided open-ended links, 'each side of which is bent or bowed inwardly, each link being formed of a single piece of wire, two of the sides forming longitudinal arms terminating at their free ends in hooks and the third side forming a cross-bar uniting the opposite ends of the arms and forming eyes at its junction therewith substantially in line with the hooks, the links of each row being checker-Wise connected with their hooks and eyes to the eyes and hooks respectively of the adjacent rows, whereby the arms of the links collectively form continuouslycurved longitudinal strands and the crossbars thereof, transversely connecteach strand at intervals with the adjacent strands.

2. The combination with the supportingframe, of a wire-fabric bed-bottom, composed of a series of interlocked transverse rows of three-sided open-ended spring-links, each formed with an inwardly-bent cross-bar, and with two like inwardly bent or bowed longitudinal arms terminating at their free ends in hooks and forming at their junction with the cross-bar eyes in line with the hooks, the

arms of one row of linksbeing separately joined by their hooks and eyes, checkerwise, to the arms of an adjacent row of links in line with each other to form collectively continuously-curvevdulongitudinal strands, the first and last row of links being secured to the end bars of the frame.

3. The herein-described spring-link, for manufacturing an elastic wire fabric, the same being formed of a piece of hard-drawn spring-wire with two long spring-arms terminating at their free ends in hooks and unitedY at the other end by a short cross-bar forming therewith eyes at its junction with said arms, the cross-bar and side bar of such link being alike bowed or bent inwardly to a degree not exceeding the elastic limit of the wire, whereby they form permanent tensionsprings the hooks and eyes being bent abruptly to form rigid parts of the link.

4. The combinati-on with the supportingframe of a wire-fabric bed-bottom, composed of a series of connected open-ended wire links, each link formed of a hard-drawn wire with an inwardly-curved cross-barat one end, and two arms extending longitudinally each arm bent inwardly in the arc of a circle adapted to form a tension-spring of each arm in the longitudinal direction thereof, said links connected checkerwise in transverse rows by means of hooks formed at the free ends of the arms and eyes formed at the junction thereof with the cross-bar in alinement with said hooks and arms and formed rigid by closely bending thewire whereby the arms of the links collectively form a series of elastic wire strands extending in the longitudinal direction of the fabric and composed of alternately oppositely bent arms and with the cross-bars of the links transversely connecting each strand alternately with the adjacent strand at the ends of the arms composing the strand.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR H. VIEL.

Witnesses:

Ofrro F. BARTHEL, JOSEPH A. NonLKE. 

